Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1887-09-28
A PITHoLE LEGEND.
The Well in Which j. Wilkes Booth
Once Held an Interest," Destroyed By

The Well in Which j. Wilkes Booth
Once Held an Interest-- Destroyed By
Big Gas Exp.osion.
Il is not generally known that ].
Wilkes Booth, the assassin Of President
Lincoln, was at one time an oil pro-
Queer, yet such is the fact, and the old
timers relate singular coincidence OF
that time. Booths visit to that section
81 the country in 1864 is well known,
and glass from the window of the
McHenry house, at Meadyille. on which
he had written his name with one of
his diamonds while stopping there, is
preserved in Philadelphia. At the time
Of his visit the oil regions were in the
highest stage of excitement, and, in
fact, the whole country had gone daft
and was in oil. Hundreds of oil COM
panies had just sprung into life, and
their shares were beng eagerly taken
at par, whether the figure was 800 or
fifty cents per share. Some of them
were bona fide stock companies, re-
presenting valuable property, and
dozens of them were swindles, the
shares not being worth the fine litho-
graphic work on the certificates.
Millions of dollars were invested by
the people of Philadelphia, New York,
Boston, Baltimore and everywhere else
in oil stock, and millions were never
seen again by spectators who were in
such haste to get rich that they never
paused to examine into the truth or
falsity of the claims presented to them.
Anything with oil or petroleum in the
name of it was good enough FOR an in
vestment in those days, though a great
many people have never recovered
from the shock which followed this
unreasoning fever of speculation, and
still look with suspicious upon any
thing and everything connected with
petroleum business, even to tie
ersons legitimately engaged in it.
But Booths investment was in none
Of these wildcat companies. He bought
thirteenth interest in the famous
Homestead we'll at Pithole and paid
therefore $4,000 cash. The Home
stead was great well in its day
and produced considerable guam
tity of crude petroleum and CORE
spending wealth for its owners, with
oil selling at 81 to SIS at the well
Booth did not retain his interest long,
however, but sold to 10 Simonds, at
present well-known citizen of Brad
ford, who made some money out of the
production. The Homestead floated a
flag when the glad tidings of the end
ing of the war were telegraphed to
Pithole, but that flag was never low
cred to half mast in mourning for the
martyred president. For the very night
that Lincoln was shot by j. Wilkes
Booth the Homestead we'll caught fire
from gas explosion, and when the
sad news reached Pithole that wonder
full mushroom city v 8 overhung by a
Fall of black smoke from the burning
oil. When the citizens of Oil City and
Titusville went out the next morning
to hang Grape about their dwellings
and places of business, they could see
the black pillar standing against the
sky over Pithole,
True, Booth did not own any palt of
the well when it burned, nor for some
time before, but the coincidence was
generally remarked and the supersti-
tious shook their heads and declared
the hand of Providence was in the af-
fair. The flag, SO proudly flying to the
breeze few days before, was burned
with the well, and the half-masted,
bright new flags in the city, which
Haunted their brilliant colors when
peace was assured were grimed by the
volumes of thick smoke from the we'll
in which the assassin had once owned
an interest. The incident. remarked
at the time, was soon lost sight of in
the wild excitement of the days, but
still fingers in the memory of many of
the pioneer oil men, and is occasionally
told by some forge fire in derrick, or
| by the gas fire in stove OF some
'swlldcat'' clearinghouse to group
of men who have made acquaintance
with oildom since those stirring days.
! 1t was just after this time that the
late martyred President Garfield
championed the cause of the oil pro-
ducers, and urged the adjustment of
the tax on crude petroleum, which he
declared was unjust and impolitic. As
an article of growing export he con-
tended that its production should be
encouraged, and his pleadings were
effective in having the tax first re-
duced and then abolished altogether.
It is related in this connection that at
the election in 1850 an aged, white
haired man llmped up to the polling
place in an oil region town, held aloft
his ticket, proposed three cheers for
Garfield in tremulous voice, and
after cheering as Justify as he could,
deposited what he declared to the
crowd was the first ballot, other than
Democratic, he had ever cast, and all
because of Garfeld's efforts to have
the burdensome tax taken off crude pc
troleum fifteen years before.
The change in the oil country in Its
business methods and general con-
dition since 1865 has been as great and
complete as was the change in that
week from the manifestations of re-
| joicing over the close of the war to
| L 80, -~f o1,yr.x, or,o,, @l,o dao+l